Security: Uruguay's team hotel in Natal has been surrounded by armed guards in response to the incident

LIVERPOOL GAMES SUAREZ MISSES

Aug 16: Liverpool v Southampton

Aug 23: Manchester City v Liverpool

Aug 30: Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool

Sep 13: Liverpool v Aston Villa

Sep 16: Champions League matchday 1

Sep 20: West Ham United v Liverpool

Sep 27: Liverpool v Everton

Sep 30: Champions League matchday 2

Oct 4: Liverpool v West Bromwich Albion

Oct 18: Queens Park Rangers v Liverpool

Oct 21: Champions League matchday 3

Oct 25: Liverpool v Hull City

The
Uruguayan Football Association are preparing an appeal against the
severity of the sentence, which also includes a £64,000 fine. But there
is no chance of Suarez appearing at Brazil 2014 again and his future at
Liverpool is also plunged into uncertainty through the length of the
suspension.

FIFA’s strict
regulations barring him from any involvement in football mean he cannot
even watch Liverpool or Uruguay in action — he is banned from football
stadiums and must train alone away from Liverpool’s Melwood training
ground.

Suarez can be sold
during his spell in football exile — a strong possibility — but cannot
personally join in negotiations in mooted moves to Barcelona or Real
Madrid.

Liverpool are taking
specialist legal advice before deciding what to do about Suarez — a
world-class footballer who comes with more baggage than any other elite
star. Given the length of his ban, Liverpool, who have not been
contacted by FIFA or the Uruguay FA, feel aggrieved to be punished for
something in which they had no part. The news was greeted with dismay by
the club’s owners in Boston.

Ouch: Chiellini attempts to show the bite marks to referee Marco Rodriguez

Bite night! Luis Suarez holds his teeth after the biting incident during the World Cup against Giorgio Chiellini

Not fooling anyone: Suarez holds his teeth after sinking them into the shoulder of Giorgio Chiellini

VIDEO Suarez hands Liverpool problem

Uruguay
FA president Wilmar Valdez said: ‘We are preparing our appeal to
present to FIFA in the next few hours. It’s an extremely excessive
punishment, there was not enough evidence and I have seen more
aggressive incidents. It feels like Uruguay have been thrown out of the
World Cup. We all know what Suarez means to Uruguay and to football
around the world. Luis will travel home to recover with his family.’

Following
this third, high-profile biting incident, it is no surprise that
Suarez’s major sponsor adidas are thinking of ditching him. He has
already been punished for racially abusing Patrice Evra and biting
Branislav Ivanovic.

A
statement said: ‘Adidas does not condone Luis Suarez’s recent behaviour
and we will again be reminding him of the high standards we expect from
our players. We have no plan to use Suarez for any additional marketing
activities during the World Cup. We will discuss all aspects of our
future partnership directly with Suarez and his team after the
tournament.’

Another of
Suarez’s backers, 888poker, are likely to drop him, with a spokesman
saying: ‘888poker is seriously reviewing its relationship with the
player as we will not tolerate unsporting behaviour.’

On message: Tube commuters found out about the lengthy ban given to Suarez on the digital screen

On the ball: The news broke just before the busy evening rush hour

Jaws: A USA fan pretends Suarez is biting him as he poses for a photograph next to an advert

The
independent FIFA disciplinary committee, chaired by Claudio Sulser of
Switzerland, reached the decision to hand Suarez a World Cup record ban
after 10 hours of talks spread over Wednesday night and Thursday
morning before it was announced at FIFA’s daily briefing at the
Maracana. The player and the Uruguay FA had been informed minutes
beforehand. The suspension starts with immediate effect.

The
committee took into account that this was the third time Suarez had
bitten an opponent. His first victim was PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal in
2010, for which he received a seven-match ban, and then Chelsea’s
Ivanovic in 2013, which brought a 10-game ban.

Sulser
said: ‘Such behaviour cannot be tolerated and in particular not at a
World Cup when the eyes of millions are on the stars on the field. The
disciplinary committee took into account all the factors of the case and
the degree of Mr Suarez’s guilt in accordance with the relevant
provisions of the code.’

The
Uruguayan media claimed that Sulser’s committee had come under pressure
from South American football chiefs, including the English-hating
Argentinian football president Julio Grondona, not to punish Suarez too
severely.

Kop that! Suarez will not be able to play for Liverpool until the end of October

Decision maker: Claudio Sulser said the incident 'could not be tolerated on any football pitch'

But FIFA insisted
that there was no interference at all in the process. The world body’s
president Sepp Blatter had been in Manaus watching Switzerland beat
Honduras and flew back to Rio while the Suarez hearing was going on.
Meanwhile, the Football Writers’ Association, who made Suarez their
player of the year last season, decided not to strip the Liverpool star
of his title.

Uruguay face
Colombia in the last 16 on Saturday Central defender Jose Maria Gimenez
said the team were ‘more united than ever’, while the country’s sports
minister Liliam Kechichian commented: ‘We are hurt by this excessive
sanction. Now let’s see how we can help this human being and whether the
group can show its class and its love for La Celeste.’

Britain’s
FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce said: ‘The punishment is fully justified.
Hopefully he will realise now that behaviour of this type will not be
tolerated.’